All You Need To Know So Far is Nonon Played the Guitar
by gryffinpuff73
Summary: Nonon has a band. Inumata doesn't get out much, and finally manages to get out to one of her shows. He recognizes who her muse is, and they have a chat.


All you need to know so far, is Nonon played the guitar 

He went out to see one of her shows. Finally. After months of her trying to get him there, along with the others, whom were much less hesitant to go. It wasn't often he had a free night, and liked to use them as personal time. He had fallen behind on what his friends were up to now.

"Inumuta! You should've been to her show last week, they were playing a full set! They aren't going to be playing as much tonight either, there's some other bands playing too..." Mako began to rattle off, sitting between her adoptive sister and Gamagori.

"What is it you're doing now?" Satsuki interjected before Mako could continue her elaborate speech.

"I'm not doing much. Mostly working part time." Inumuta watched everyone's eyes widen as he watched them around the booth they occupied. He shrugged in response, taking a sip of the drink Uzu had set in front of him. "It appears that although I was never punished for hacking the server, it was put on record, and most major employers do not wish to associate with me quite yet." His eyes passed over everyone's faces before settling on the stage where one of the other bands was finishing up. He could see the next band waiting to the side, but not Nonon. In fact, he didn't recognise the next act, which was a surprise to him. He thought he had some form of data on everyone in the city. He turned back to the group.

"Is Snake doing anything besides this?" Satsuki shook her head.

"She was in school for a music degree of sorts, but left shortly after to pursue this." He nodded, maybe he did need to get out more. He should've known that, she was the one he was closest to of the Elite Four. Maybe because neither of them were offended when they started to bicker and things turned sour. This is when he first noticed how he missed them. He was working nights and weekends, which was when everyone else was free.

"Hey check it out." Ryuko nodded towards the stage. Inumuta noticed the dark red beret and pink hair before he tuned into what the MC was saying about the band.

"… Constellations, playing Jimmy and Sally." There was some small applause besides what was coming from their booth. They had a small fan base, not quite enough to be known, but enough to be local hits. He drank in everything that was happening. He recognized her bandmates as past orchestra members who had traded in their brass for more contemporary instruments. One other guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer. Smiling slightly behind the collar of his sweatshirt, he admired her guitar. True to the name, the band each had a constellation on their instrument. On Nonon's guitar was the constellation Lrya. He wondered if she knew that was the harp Apollo crafted, which could tame the wildest beats with its beautiful music. She probably did, and that's why she chose it, because that what music is to her. The most beautiful thing, capable of doing anything. This is when he realized how much he missed her. She brought the mic down to her height, and smirked at the audience.

"Thank you, we're Cobra's Constellations, and this is our song, Jimmy and Sally, one I wrote about this guy I went to high school with." She looked back at the others and gave a nod, they played a quick intro before the drummer counted in. Then Nonon came in on vocals.

" _Sally played guitar, Down in all the local bars  
She dreamed of making it big But Sally never got that far  
Sally writes songs that nobody hears, But somehow that's ok  
All you gotta know so far is, Sally played the guitar_

 _Jimmy got good grades, Now he works nights and Saturdays  
He always followed the rules, But it turns out that doesn't pay  
Jimmy doesn't know what he's gonna do, But he knows he can't go on this way  
And though they may not carry weight, Jimmy got good grades"_

Inumuta was taken back when he heard the second part of the first verse. He was Jimmy. There was no doubt about it. Did she know he was there? She couldn't see him from his seat next to Gamagori from that angle, and it was such a last minute decision, no one knew until he showed up. She knew his schedule from when she bumped into him at work a few weeks back while she was making a quick stop in at the store. Does this mean she missed him to? Or was he just a convenient muse?

 _In the limelight, Sally takes the stage and  
She lets the whole world know, She fights her own fights  
She's not the kind of girl that's, Afraid to be alone  
Cuz Sally when she plays, she plays, And no one else is on the stage_

The lights dimmed over the rest of the band as she sang, leaving a spotlight on her. He expected nothing less, she was a bit of a ham, and hasn't changed much in the 8 months since their graduation. Still a fighter, still short, still pretty cute. He groaned internally, he thought he was over that. He stopped thinking about her like that a year before Ryuko had transferred in. During all the chaos he had noticed how devastated he would've been if she had been seriously injured. He thought it was platonic. __

 _Jimmy hides out, at the top of the stairs  
in his room at night, He has adventures  
when there's nobody there, He reads by candlelight  
and when the sun begins to rise, Jimmy blinks and rubs his eyes_

That made him chuckle. It was an old habit that had followed him. She had come into the Student Council Chambers early one day, and found him there, still absorbed in his reading. He still did it too, just now when there was no one around to help at work. He smiled at how she remembered about that.

He once again looked to the rest of the group, as she sang the chorus. They were all in various poses of listening, not seeming to pick up on some of the references. Uzu looked back at him, and raised his eyebrows, with a smirk. Okay, maybe it was obvious who Jimmy and Sally were. But the song was just listing characteristics so far. Maybe that's all it was, reminiscing about high school, not a love song, and he could ignore the thump in his chest that wasn't caused by the speakers nearby. But would he be disappointed if it turned out it wasn't a love song? He couldn't tell anymore.

 _Sally and Jimmy don't know, But one day they're gonna make each other whole_

 _They're always learning the hard way, Build it, break it, then  
Burn it down and start again, But they're gonna learn some day I bet..._

Her eyes were closed as she sang these stanzas. Almost as if, she was trying push something from the front of her mind. Her voice softened for the last bit, and he couldn't help but feel guilty. He wasn't sure why. She seemed off about whatever she was thinking as she sang. And it didn't take his database to tell him he was more than likely the cause.

 _Jimmy and Sally will find their finale  
As people and pieces of my personality  
No one, no one, is gonna be left behind_

The band finished with a few power cords, and there was immense cheering from the crowd. Nonon beamed into the crowd and waved. Inumuta was clapping, not as much as he wanted to. He was still processing those last few verses, and didn't want her to notice him yet. Led by the Cobra herself, the band waved to the crowd as they walked off the stage. The MC had returned before the cheering had gone down.

"Once again, that was Cobra's Constellations…" Inumuta tuned him out. His huge smile would've gone unnoticed by the others if it wasn't for how his collar dipped as he moved into a more comfortable position.

"Gee, you look happy, Dog." Uzu nudged him with his elbow. Inumuta dropped the smile and glared back. Uzu leaned back, hands up defensively.

"Room for one more?" Everyone turned to their pink haired friend. Her usual pink jacket covered her cobra shirt from the performance. Uzu got up and let her take his seat, opting to pull a chair from nearby table. Inumuta made sure his collar was high as she sat next to him. He didn't want her to think he had been overly affected by the song in front of everyone.

The waitress brought over a glass of water for her, and soon the entire group was laughing and catching up. As it neared 12:30, everyone was ready to head home. Satsuki and Ryuko began to their shared apartment, while Uzu and Gamagori were walking Mako back to the Mankanshoku household. (She had an early shift at the Back Alley Doctor, so it was easier than going back with Ryuko and Satsuki.)

"Nonon, aren't you living over by Inumuta now?" Satsuki mentioned offhandedly as everyone headed to the door. Inumuta could tell it wasn't as innocent as she tried to make it sound. Everyone murmured something about remembering that. The small girl nodded.

"Looks like you got someone to walk with tonight then." Ryuko said as she walked backwards heading towards her final destination. "See ya later guys!" Everyone said their farewells, despite the fact most of them were heading the same way. This only left Nonon and Inumuta walking together.

It was silent for the first block. He had no idea how to approach this. He didn't feel their usual banter was right for this moment.

"I wasn't expecting you to finally come." She saved him from having to make the first move. He glanced at her, she had her sleeves pulled over her hands and wasn't making eye contact. Oh god, she's nervous. It was unbelievable, he had made the great Snake Nonon nervous. None of his calculations of the night came to that conclusion.

"I wasn't sure if I could until I got there." She nodded, finally meeting his eyes, a look of understanding about why passed between them. He figured out where he wanted this conversation to go, after making a few calculations based on the new information. "I do have a question about your song though. 'Find their finale as people and pieces of my personality.' What do you mean by that?" She turned back to the road, smiling at the line.

"I think it's one of my best lyrics. Jimmy and Sally will each find their 'happy ever after' so to speak, as individuals, but also within myself. Kind of a, um, I think it's a symbiotic relationship? You know, learning from each other, mimicking traits and characteristics, both meeting their ends. Am I explaining that right? Do you get it? No one's ever actually asked about the meaning behind my lyrics. I'm not used to explaining." Her eyebrows were knit together in concentration as she tried to explain the words that flowed so smoothly when she wrote the song.

"So, you're saying you learned a lot from me, and I'm helping you achieve what you want from life?" His eyebrow was brought up as he looked down at the girl. She was surprised by his bluntness and dropped the sleeves in her fists, and stumbled over the pavement.

"Well… I mean, I- Yes. You made me start to see things a bit more logically, and start tackling problems a bit more analytically around graduation. I found appreciation of new things, even if they weren't all that new. I never thought I'd have wanted to front a band like this. Conduct an orchestra? Easy. Compose symphonies? Piece of cake. But this? Writing music that makes people want to listen, and connect with lyrics, not just general feelings? It's a bit harder. I know it doesn't quite make sense the way you're connected, but the way I was seeing it was, I've started noticing how other people feel when they listen to my music, instead of just my own feelings. I started to incorporate that in too." She visibly relaxed as she explained. He noticed they had started to get closer as they went on, their sleeves barely brushing.

"Is that also the reasoning behind the 'making each other whole' line?" Any relaxation she had was lost at that.

"I guess there's no hiding anything from you, huh, Inumuta? And even if I wanted to lie, I don't think I could. That was a rewrite honestly. It used be 'make each other home' but the others in the band pointed out it didn't quite fit with the rest of the song. Too much love ballad, I guess." Her eyes were clenched closed again. He figured she was pushing away the same thoughts she had when she sang it. "And before you ask, yes, even that line's about you. I couldn't keep it in the song, even if the others had liked it. Because I didn't know, I don't know. I had no way of knowing if you did either." She was starting to withdraw, the sleeves were pulled down again. He didn't know what to do, he's never seen her like this. With a small amount of hesitation, he put his arm around her shoulders, preventing her from moving to far away.

"Ah, but that's where we can change things. I'll collect some data, and you'll get your song inspiration, then we'll see about making each other whole, or even home." His words surprised even himself. But hey, he had expectations to hold up. From the song, and what she usually expected from him. He figured he had his bases covered. She stopped, and looked up at him, trying to figure out how serious he was. When she saw the sincerity behind the blue lenses, she took a half step towards him, and nestled herself under his arm more comfortably. They began to walk towards her apartment.

"Well come on then, Doggy. We have some catching up to do. I'll make some tea."


End file.
